Table A:(1)What did you bid with this East hand B in this
week’s quiz? This 2♥ bid must be wrong.
Some may consider a negative double, but I play that as promising only one (4-card)
major in this sequence. I prefer the action taken at table B.

(2)There
is no way that E-W can find the ♠ fit
now. A 3♠ bid would promise a big hand and so West has
little choice but to support ♥’s of which partner
presumably has 5+.

Table B:(1)This is the ‘obvious’ bid – you have to stretch
after a pre-emptive overcall - see Paul Quodomine’s previous articles on
‘borrowing a king’ in these situations. So with 5-5, bid the ♠’s with the intention of bidding ♥’s later.

And what happened? 4♠= four times, 5♠-1, 4♠-2
and 4♥-2 twice.The bottom line:

-Bid the higher ranking
suit when holding two touching 5-carders.

Manufacture a forcing bid?Board 22 from Wednesday 3rd

Dealer:♠
10Table
A

East♥ AKJ10987WestNorth(A)EastSouth

E-W vul♦A52--pass1♦

♣ Q4pass1♥pass1NT

pass4♥(1)all
pass

♠
KJ82N♠
Q7543

♥ 63WE♥ 5Table B

♦QJ98S♦73WestNorth(A)EastSouth

♣
K96♣ 108753--pass1♦

♠ A96pass1♥pass1NT

♥
Q42pass3NT(1)pass

♦ K1064

♣ AJ2

Table A:(1)What did you bid with this North hand A in
this week’s quiz? This was the most popular choice.

Table B:(1)This North took a typical ‘pairs’ view and bid
NoTrumps rather than ♥’s in answer to
question A. It is rather dangerous because if the ♥’s do not run and if partner has only one stop
in the black suit led then the contract is in danger.

And what happened? 6♥= twice, 4♥+2 seven times, 4♥+1 and 3NT+3

The bottom line:

-I think that the best bid
at (1) is a (forcing) lie. There are various options according to partnership
understandings, including 2♠, 3♠, 2♣ and 3♣. If North tries one of these bids then South will
doubtless support ♥’s and North can then either bid 3NT with a bit more
confidence or else investigate the ♥ slam.

-3♥ at (1) would be nice
if it is forcing – but it is invitational

Dave’s ColumnHere is Dave’s first
input on the play of the hand.

Dealer:♠K7

North♥ K94WestNorthEastSouth

both vul♦ 9432-passpass1NT

♣
KJ96pass3NTall
pass

N♠ J964You are East.
Partner leads the ♣3 (4th best)

WE♥ AQ3and
declarer wins with the ♣A and lets the ♥J

S♦QJ108ride to your ♥Q. What do you lead?

♣
74

Dave’s Column
answerBoard 13 from Wednesday 27th

Dealer:♠K7Book
bidding

North♥K94WestNorthEastSouth

both vul♦ 9432-passpass1NT

♣
KJ96pass3NTall
pass

♠
10853N♠ J964You are East.
Partner leads the ♣3 (4th best)

♥ 85WE♥ AQ3and declarer wins with the ♣A and lets the ♥J

♦A7S♦QJ108ride to your ♥Q. What do you lead?

♣
108532♣ 74

♠ AQ2

♥
J10762

♦ K65

♣ AQ

When the board was first played, East shifted
to the ♦Q, winning, and next led the ♦J. South pondered and decided that since East,
a passed hand, had shown the ♥Q and might have the
♥A and the ♠J,
he was not likely to have ♦AQJ. So South ducked
again. West had to win the ♦A and East won the ♥A but declarer made the rest for his contract.

Either West or East could have beaten the
contract; easiest is if East leads the ♦8,
forcing partner to play the ♦A – thus forcing him
to make the correct play.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♥= twice, 3NT= twice, and numerous contracts of
4♥ and 3NT going one or two down.

Dave’s 2nd
ColumnHere is Dave’s second problem on the play
of the hand.

WestEastWestNorthEastSouth

♠
52♠A8--1NTpass

♥ Q74♥ KJ33NTall
pass

♦KQ42♦AJ76

♣ A1074♣
KJ98

You are East, declarer in 3NT and win the
opening ♠3 lead with the ♠A. You can see that you will not have time to establish your ♥ tricks and so need 4 ♣ tricks. So you try to find out more about the
hand by running the ♦’s, upon which South
discards three ♥’s. How do you play the ♣’s?

Dave’s 2nd
Column answerBoard
26 from Wednesday 27th

Dealer:♠QJ1074Book
Bidding

East♥A82WestNorthEastSouth

Both vul♦ 9853--1NTpass

♣
53NTall pass

♠
52N♠A8

♥ Q74WE♥ KJ3You are East and win the opening
lead of ♠3.

♦KQ42S♦AJ76You can see that you
will not have time to

♣ A1074♣KJ98establish
your ♥ tricks and so need 4 ♣ tricks.

♠ K963So
you try to find out more about the hand by

♥
10965running
the ♦’s, upon which South discards three

♦ 10♥’s.
How do you play the ♣’s?

♣ Q632

What do you know about South’s hand?

How many ♠’s
has South implied? He led the ♠3 and you can see
the ♠2 and so he probably has four ♠’s. And he has shown just one ♦.

With a 5 card suit and a 4 card suit South
would normally lead the longer. Therefore assume that he has no suit longer
than ♠’s and so is precisely 4414. So the rest is
easy, cash the ♣K and run the ♣J with confidence.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT+2
three times, 3NT+1 twice, 3NT= twice, 3NT-1 three times and 3NT-2.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A:4♥
is the value bid, but how about bidding a black suit? You have the values to be
sure that 4♥ makes, but 6♥ may be on and there may be just as many tricks in NoTrumps as in ♥’s. So manufacture a non-existent suit (a
forcing bid) and see if partner can support ♥’s. 3♥ would be a nice simple bid if it was forcing –
but it is just invitational.

Hand B:2♠,
with the intention of bidding ♥’s later if
necessary.

Current club championship standings

Gold Cup = Best 30

Silver Plate = Best 10

Bronze Medal = Best 5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

623.7 Hans Vikman

618.0 Janne Roos

604.9 Paul Quodomine

321.7 Hans Vikman

320.9 Janne Roos

319.6 Sally Watson

318.8 Paul Quodomine

300.4 Jean Wissing

298.0 Lars Broman

296.4 Holger Renken

295.0 Gerry Cohen

292.6 Tomas Wikman

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